Finding Queer Stories in Archives - Seminar Series 2021

In this episode, we speak to Dan Vo, a media producer and freelance museum professional, about the future of Reading Gaol, the role of archives in diversifying their record holdings, the representation of diverse communities in history, and Dan’s work in the Queer Heritage and Collections Network.

About Dan: Dan Vo is a media producer and freelance museum professional. He is co-project manager of the Queer Heritage and Collections Network supported by the Art Fund and has developed LGBTQ+ tours and programming for the V&A Museum, National Museum Wales, University of Cambridge Museums and helped on similar programmes for National Gallery, Imperial War Museum, Tate Britain and others. He is a patron of LGBT+ History Month.

GiveOut SoundOut Voices of LGBTQI Activism https://giveout.org/podcast

Queer Heritage and Collection Network https://le.ac.uk/rcmg/research-archive/the-queer-heritage-and-collections-network

V&A Out In The Museum https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/va-trail-out-in-the-museum

Queer Britain https://queerbritain.org.uk/

In this episode, we ask Prof. Stoneley about the ordinary people he found serving time in Reading Gaol, how the building can seen as a site of queer heritage, the importance of queer representation in the archives, and the future of Gaol (which became unexpectedly relevant with the addition of a new Banksy on the prison's walls!).

About Peter: Peter is Professor Emeritus of English Literature at the University of Reading. He has published books and essays on US literature, queer studies, Oscar Wilde, and dance. He was co-lead on the HLF-funded project, "Oscar Wilde and Reading Gaol."

Department of English Literature at the University of Reading: www.reading.ac.uk/new-home/literature-homepage.aspx

Berkshire Record Office: www.berkshirerecordoffice.org.uk

Join us for the first seminar of the series, and listen in to the Broken Futures team, Amy and George as they introduce the Broken Futures project and the upcoming launch of our museum exhibitions, walking tours, toolkit and this seminar series! Find out about the archival research, history group and more.

The Broken Futures Project was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2019 and seeks to explore the history of ‘ordinary’ men* in Berkshire who were charged with buggery/indecent assault/gross indecency 1861-1967 by training community volunteers in archival and genealogical research. The project is managed and delivered by Support U, the LGBT+ support and wellbeing charity in the Thames Valley. The project is supported by our fantastic partners, Berkshire Record Office, the Museum of English Rural Life, the University of Reading and Reading Museum. Find out more by visiting www.brokenfutures.co.uk

In this episode, the Broken Futures team talk to Mark Stevens, the Berkshire County Archivist about the Broken Futures project and how it links to the records Mark holds within the Berkshire Record Office. We talk about document conservation, access to the records, the importance of state archives in documenting queer history, Reading's new Banksy on the walls of Reading Gaol, as well as the pardoning of historical men who had sex with men.

About Mark: Mark is County Archivist for Berkshire and works at the Berkshire Record Office in Reading where, amongst other things, he looks after the archives of various Berkshire criminal courts and those of Reading jail. Mark also writes about Victorian mental health and has published two books: 'Broadmoor Revealed' and 'Life in the Victorian Asylum'.

For more information on the Berkshire Record Office, visit www.berkshirerecordoffice.org.uk

To view the Berkshire Record Office's Catalogue of Records: Berkshire Record Office Collections (berkshirenclosure.org.uk)

The BRO is contactable on 0118 937 5132